1. Technical Field
The invention relates to an installation for the wet-treatment of laundry having an at least partially liquid-permeable inner drum which can be driven in circulation and has successive treatment chambers through which the laundry is directed during the wet-treatment; and a liquid-tight outer drum that encloses the inner drum at least partially is formed from outer-drum sections each extending over at least one of the treatment chambers, and a seal for such an installation, in particular a washing machine, namely, a seal for arranging between outer-drum sections of an outer drum of a washing machine which has an inner drum which can be driven in rotation and has successive treatment chambers.
2. Prior Art
The installations of the type mentioned here usually have an inner drum which can be driven in rotation and in which there are formed treatment chambers which follow one after the other in the longitudinal direction of the drum. The inner drum is of wholly or even just partially liquid-permeable design at least in the region of some treatment chambers. A liquid-tight outer drum is assigned to several treatment chambers of the inner drum. Liquid for treating the laundry is located between the inner drums and the outer drum. Seals are arranged between the treatment chambers in order that this liquid cannot pass in an uncontrolled manner from one treatment chamber to the other.
In the case of known washing machines, precise production of individual sections of the outer drum (outer-drum sections) is necessary in order that the seals ensure reliable sealing on partition walls between adjacent treatment chambers of the inner drum. Temperature-induced displacements of the outer-drum sections in relation to the inner drum may result, during operation of the washing machine, in the seals losing their effectiveness.
The object of the invention, then, is to provide an installation for the wet-treatment of laundry (washing machine) and a seal which ensure permanent reliable sealing, and are cost-effective to produce and are straightforward to assemble and fit, respectively.
An installation for achieving this object has outer-drum sections that are enclosed, on their end sides, by seals that can be rotated in relation to the outer-drum section. On account of the displaceability of the seals, the latter can be adapted to the local conditions of the washing machine and automatically make allowances for production tolerances, in particular of the outer drum, but also of the inner drum. The seals can be fitted once the inner and the outer drums have been assembled. Finally, it is possible, with the seals partially worn, to rotate the entire seal into the bottom region of the outer drum, where only a sealing action is necessary because liquid only collects there. Worn seals are easily accessible from the outside and can be replaced with new ones without difficulty.
A further installation for achieving the object mentioned in the introduction has outer-drum sections that have cylindrical casing surfaces and seals assigned directly to cylindrical end border sections of the cylinder casing surfaces. Accordingly, the outer-drum sections have cylindrical casing surfaces. The seals are assigned directly to the end sides of said cylindrical casing surfaces. There is therefore no need for specifically configured end-side regions of the outer-drum sections for accommodating the seals. Rather, it is possible for the seals to be assigned directly to the cylindrical border sections extending from the end sides of the outer-drum sections and to be fastened thereon.
By virtue of tensioning means for fastening the seals on the outer-drum sections, the seals only have to be of a very straightforward construction because they do not themselves have to have means by which they can be fastened on the outer-drum sections. The separate tensioning means may be very straightforward. In the simplest case, they may be tensioning struts. Furthermore, the separate tensioning means allow straightforward displacement of the seals relative to those parts of the washing machine which come into contact therewith.
In the case of a preferred installation, the seals have at least one cylindrical sealing section and a sealing means which is directed transversely thereto and is designed, for example, as an encircling sealing lip. The cylindrical sealing section of the respective seal makes it possible for the latter simply to be pushed preferably from the outside onto the likewise cylindrical border section of a corresponding end side of the outer-drum section. Positional deviations of the outer-drum sections, in particular of the end sides of the same, can easily be compensated for here in that the cylindrical sealing section of the respective seal can be pushed correspondingly far onto the cylindrical border section of the outer-drum section. By virtue of the seal being pushed, with the sealing section, onto the outer-drum section from the outside, the seal is kept in the envisaged position thereon even when the tension means has not yet been fitted.
Two adjacent outer-drum sections with spaced-apart end sides are connected in a liquid-tight manner by the seal, by virtue of the seal having a cylindrical section which, at opposite ends, has in each case one sealing section which, from the outside, overlaps a wall section of each of the two outer-drum sections which are to be connected by the seal. The seal ensures an elastic connection here for adjacent outer-drum sections which compensates for positional deviations of adjacent outer-drum sections and compensates elastically for changes in position of the outer-drum sections caused during the operation of the washing machine.
According to a preferred development of the installation according to the invention, at a distance from each opposite end side, the outer-drum sections are provided with an outer flange. The flanges are preferably located at a small distance from, and alongside, the cylindrical sealing section of each seal and are connected to one another in a mechanical, preferably releasable, manner. Adjacent outer-drum sections are preferably connected by spacers between mutually facing flanges for successive outer-drum sections. In this way, the outer drum sections are secured in a defined, form-fitting manner in relation to one another. The outer-drum sections thus form a mechanically connected unit which absorbs forces between adjacent outer-drum sections and, to this extent, relieves the seals between adjacent outer-drum sections of loading.
A seal for achieving the object mentioned in the introduction is distinguished by at least one sealing section for butting against the outside of a cylindrical casing of an outer-drum section of the washing machine and an elastically deformable sealing means for sealing adjacent treatment chambers of the inner drum preferably on one side. Such a seal has a very straightforward construction and can easily be positioned, by way of the cylindrical sealing section, on the border section of an outer-drum section to which the seal is to be assigned.
Seals between two adjacent outer-drum sections of which the mutually facing end sides are spaced apart from one another by a small distance have a cylindrical section which has in each case one sealing section on opposite sides and a central section between adjacent end sides of the outer-drum sections, to which the sealing means is assigned. The two sealing sections can easily be formed by the cylindrical section. The cylindrical section of the seal thus forms an elastic connection between the two adjacent outer-drum sections. The central section between the adjacent sealing sections allows the sealing means, in particular a sealing lip, to be connected integrally to the central section of the seal. A preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail hereinbelow with reference to the drawing, in which: